Letter to the Chiefs / Volume 3.5
Semester 1: Done! Semester 2: New You!
A teacher’s perspective about student success.
“This is unfair!” “Why did they have to change from the old system?!” “Why can’t 2 be passing again?!”
Sound familiar? To say that many students were displeased last semester with the grading system would be an understatement. It was an eye-opening end to the first Semester. For those students that were open-minded and adaptive to the new system, many found the end of the Semester easier than past semesters. While other students, who relied on the sole hope of retakes and full-replacement grades found the semester end somewhat traumatizing as the number of extraordinaries increased in grades our High School.
The fact of the matter is no matter what grading system we have in place, the effort put in before the sum- mative assessment is correlated to the final grade earned on that assessment. In recent years, as a teacher, I have seen more and more students play “the game” of let me not do the homework, not study until maybe the night before, if the not the day of and try to pull off a passing grade. This was more possible when we had 31 different ways to pass, ranging from 70% to 100%. Now, with only 2 ways, Meeting & Extending, students are coming to the realization that this lazy method of getting through school might not work anymore.
Yes, we as a school have raised the expectations, with the knowledge that you as students can rise the occasion and meet our standards. We want students to be in charge of their learning. We want students to take feedback and learn from it. Why?! Because this is what happens when you are outside of school. You need to have the want to succeed; to get better, to improve your deficiencies. We realize you may not need all the content knowledge you are taught in ASFM, but you will use many of the skills including communication, perseverance, punctuality, learning from your mistakes, self-management, and self-awareness, and taking owner- ship of the consequences, good or bad, of your actions.
So for this semester, decide what you want to do, but be willing to accept the consequences. Let’s focus on the actions that will make you a better Eagle this semester. Give yourself enough time in the morning to get here without the possibility of causing a crash on your way. Even though classwork/homework doesn’t count directly towards your grade, realize that it does count long-term with the preparation for the summative. Practice makes consistent. And finally, use the feedback that your teachers are offering. We don’t expect you to understand and meet all the standards the first time you see them. We want to help you grow in your understanding.
This semester will go by quickly. Start out with a plan. Don’t fall behind. New semester, new you!